Sharkscope is now officially banned while running Stars

Dorkus Malorkus · Nov 6, 2008

Prohibited Online Poker Software Programs

KingCurtis · Nov 6, 2008

well that's kind of bad news, but I'm sure sharkscope will be taking the biggest hit....although I don't know too many thathave actually bought the software..

CAPT. ZIGZAG · Nov 6, 2008

WTF

What steps are you going to take to prevent players from using prohibited tools and services? We are going to look to see if any of those tools and services is running on a player's computer. If we find one of the prohibited tools and services, we will alert the player that he is running a prohibited tool or service and tell him what it is. We will ask that he stop running the tool or service immediately. If he complies, fine. If not, then we will prevent the PokerStars client from running on his computer.

Are you going to look for anything else on players' computers? Absolutely not. Our sole interest is in protecting our players and our site from tools and services that we believe are bad for the integrity and fairness of our games.

This here is scary. Stay the @#$% outa my computer. FOR ANY REASON. YOU CAN CHECK THE CONNECTIONS WITH YOUR SITE. THAT'S FINE. BUT STAY OUT.

---

Stick66 · Nov 6, 2008

Some examples of tools and services which are prohibited only while PokerStars is running are:
...
5. SharkScope

The title of this thread is incomplete and misleading. pokerstars has NOT banned Sharkscope completely. It is only banned while the Stars client is running.

EDIT: Thanks for the title edit.

Dorkus Malorkus · Nov 6, 2008

edited

nevadanick · Nov 6, 2008

CAPT. ZIGZAG said:
WTF

This here is scary. Stay the @#$% outa my computer. FOR ANY REASON. YOU CAN CHECK THE CONNECTIONS WITH YOUR SITE. THAT'S FINE. BUT STAY OUT.-

I DO NOT approve of ANY source getting 'into' my computer in any manner or fashion, but there is a clause in the Stars 'Terms of Service' agreement that we all agreed to in order to play on their site. In part...

"5.6. You agree that PokerStars may take steps to detect and prevent the use of prohibited EPA (External Player Assistance) Programs. These steps may include, but are not limited to, examination of software programs running concurrently with the PokerStars Software on the User's computer."

It's not just a poker site that is 'scary'. The number of companies and programs that gather information from our computers via bots and numerous spyware programs is the REALLY scary part.

WVHillbilly · Nov 6, 2008

MrSticker said:
The title of this thread is incomplete and misleading. Pokerstars has NOT banned Sharkscope completely. It is only banned while the Stars client is running.

EDIT: Thanks for the title edit.

I think you're wrong:

PokerStars said:
Q: Can you give some examples of tools and services which are prohibited?
A: The following are examples of tools and services which are prohibited at all times:
34. Sharkscope

There is a list of tools below that that are legal only when Stars is not running. Sharkscope is not among them. Now it may be hard for them to enforce this but that doesn't make it acceptable by Stars. I think the thread title was right the 1st time.

Dorkus Malorkus · Nov 6, 2008

well stars can only track your activity when the stars client is open, so i think the edit is good.

if anyone less lazy than me wants to mail them and pose the question though, t'would be appreciated.

WVHillbilly · Nov 6, 2008

Dorkus Malorkus said:
well stars can only track your activity when the stars client is open, so i think the edit is good.

if anyone less lazy than me wants to mail them and pose the question though, t'would be appreciated.

That may be true but Stars goes out of there way to differentiate between programs that are never allowed and those which are allowed when the client is not running. If Stars can check your running programs while you're playing, who's to say they're not looking through your browser history as well or your installed (although not active) programs for that matter.

Dorkus Malorkus · Nov 6, 2008

umm looking at that page again sscope shows up for me as #5 in the 'prohibited while stars is running' list and not at all on the totally prohibited list.

Stick66 · Nov 6, 2008

WVHillbilly said:
I think you're wrong:

There is a list of tools below that that are legal only when Stars is not running. Sharkscope is not among them. Now it may be hard for them to enforce this but that doesn't make it acceptable by Stars. I think the thread title was right the 1st time.

Dude, hit refresh or something. You got the wrong list. #34 on my list is "Sixth Sense". Mine says "Updated November 4th" and looks like this (I added hi-lites):

deadhxc · Nov 6, 2008

Dorkus Malorkus said:
well stars can only track your activity when the stars client is open, so i think the edit is good.

if anyone less lazy than me wants to mail them and pose the question though, t'would be appreciated.

If that is only when stars is tracking. They could be sticking a hidden spyware on your machine tracking everything you do while not playing using certain keywords or w/e for banned programs/sites. Then said program sends it to stars as soon as you launch their client.

Personally I don't like knowing ANY company has the right to look into my personal computer and what I am doing with it.

WVHillbilly · Nov 6, 2008

Refreshed

Refreshed and it looks like yours now but I did get a screen cap to show that I'm not insane (at least about this

)

Not 100% on why I copied 34 before but at least it was there. Guess maybe enough people bitched about it that they changed it.

Stick66 · Nov 6, 2008

WVHillbilly said:
Refreshed and it looks like yours now but I did get a screen cap to show that I'm not insane (at least about this )
View attachment 14687

Not 100% on why I copied 34 before but at least it was there. Guess maybe enough people bitched about it that they changed it.

Wow, that's weird. Are you clicking on the link in DM's OP to get this screen?

EDIT: Ah forget it. I misunderstood. I didn't catch the "looks like yours now" part.

kidkvno1 · Nov 6, 2008

It is all cool with me, and how do you think they find out who is running software that they are not to be running well playing... You forgot this

Are you going to confiscate the account funds of somebody running a prohibited tool or service?
While we reserve the right to confiscate the funds of somebody running a prohibited tool or service , we are not going to do this lightly. We want to educate our players - not punish them. However, we will confiscate funds if a player shows a consistent pattern of using prohibited tools and services after being warned.

An email will be sent out

Hello,
It has come to our attention at PokerStars that you are accessing a
prohibited third party website known as Sharkscope during your game play.

Perhaps you were unaware that the use of SharkScope was against the rules,
but use of this software under any circumstances is against our terms of
service. Those terms of service are located here:

Poker Stars - Online Poker Site Terms of Service

Among them are these terms:

5.4. EXTERNAL PLAYER ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS (EPA). PokerStars
prohibits those External Player Assistance Programs ("EPA
Programs") which are designed to provide an "Unfair Advantage"
to players. PokerStars defines "External" to mean computer
software...and non-software-based databases or profiles (e.g.
web sites and subscription services). PokerStars defines
an "Unfair Advantage" as any instance in which a User
accesses or compiles information on other players beyond
that which the User has personally observed through the
User's own game play. We encourage you to read our
Prohibited Online Software FAQ at:

Prohibited Online Poker Software Programs

As SharkScope provides statistics based upon a large database of hands in
which you did not play, it is considered to be in violation of this policy.

We are aware that many who receive this alert do not subscribe to
SharkScope, but do use the 5 free daily lookups to check their own stats. We do
not distinguish between such uses, however, and even this use of SharkScope
is prohibited.

For a brief transition period, we will only be issuing this alert. We ask
that you stop using SharkScope immediately. On November 15, we will begin
closing the accounts of players found to be using SharkScope despite
having received and acknowledged a warning.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter, and for helping us to keep
PokerStars' games a fair and level playing field for all players.

Best Regards,

PokerStars Game Security

23rd Paradox · Nov 8, 2008

Makes Sense... I knew they would have to draw the line on this eventually. So i wonder what the punishment and who the guinea pig of punishment will be? Interesting to think about and ponder/speculate.

RickH2005 · Nov 8, 2008

Can you say---'BIG BROTHER'??---

nevadanick · Nov 9, 2008

djrudeboy said:
does fulltilt ban sharkscope too?

I haven't found an official list on their site yet, but they do have some of the same terminology as Stars in their rules prohibiting use of anything that gives a player an 'unfair advantage'.

Only thing I could find was a link to send them an e-mail (to 'support') to ask if a specific program is allowed. I didn't send the question as I do not have or use any of the programs that would be classed in the 'unfair advantage' category.

Sharkscope is now officially banned while running Stars

Dorkus Malorkus

HELLO INTERNET

KingCurtis

Legend

CAPT. ZIGZAG

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Stick66

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Dorkus Malorkus

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nevadanick

Back to work ... zzzzz

WVHillbilly

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Dorkus Malorkus

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WVHillbilly

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Dorkus Malorkus

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Stick66

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deadhxc

Visionary

WVHillbilly

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Stick66

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kidkvno1

Sarah's Pet

23rd Paradox

Rising Star

RickH2005

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nevadanick

Back to work ... zzzzz

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